Life Lesson #3: Learn

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can – there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” -Sarah Caldwell

I spent 18 hours this weekend at a Pilates seminar. When I got home this afternoon my muscles were sore, my body was tired, and my mind was frazzled. Despite the information overload, I couldn’t help but read through my materials, reading my notes and organizing my handouts into a binder. It was an amazing seminar and my mind was heavy with everything I had heard and experienced.

When Taylor arrived home a couple hours later, she noticed my open books and Pilates notes on the table. Setting her bag down, I watched her lift up a few handouts and scan them with her eyes. She said curiously, “Is this what you did this weekend?”

I said, “Do you want to hear about it?”

Her eyes lit up. I told her about my class and she asked me what I learned while I was there. We sat at the table and I showed her pictures of muscle systems, postural analysis, and breathing techniques. I assumed she’d bore quickly, but she sat with quiet interest, asking intelligent questions, pausing to think through some of the concepts and when I was done speaking she said, “You really love this, don’t you? Will you teach me?”

We spent nearly 30 minutes going through poses and movements, my daughter watching me, taking cues, and finding muscles in her body she had never actively engaged before. She was a natural. Even Cate wanted to participate. When we were done Taylor said, “That was hard! I can’t wait to learn more tomorrow!”

And so it goes.

Life Lesson #3 is to Learn. There is no threshold for knowledge, no peak of wisdom one can hope to achieve. There is always more to know, more to find. Sometimes it’s in a book, sometimes its thousands of miles from home or in a classroom, and sometimes it’s at a kitchen table. There is so much out there to learn and to explore. Ask questions, try new things, and above all, never be satisfied with what you know. Make the love of learning like the need for air. Life-sustaining.